Introduction to the Innovation Economy of Ohio - West Central Ohio Edition

What is the purpose of these course materials and why are they important?

The purpose of the Believe in Ohio program and these free online course materials is to introduce the students, teachers and residents of Ohio to Ohio's “Innovation Economy”, to inspire Ohio's students to pursue their STEM educations and careers in Ohio, and to encourage today's students to become the future innovators and entrepreneurs Ohio needs to help develop the new products and services and jobs of the future.

These online course and instructional materials were developed by Entrepreneurial Engagement Ohio (EEO) as part of the Believe in Ohio program.

Believe in Ohio is a program of The Ohio Academy of Science (OAS) that was collaboratively developed by OAS and EEO.

Course materials are divided into six Content Tracks that include more than 140 videos and video lectures which may be used in a multitude of ways ranging from their use as individualized instructional materials for teachers to select for classroom use or to assign to their students, to their use as part of a structured “College Credit Plus” or high school “Credit Flex” course, and everything in between.

"Believe in Ohio’s Free Online Course Materials for the Students, Teachers and Residents of Ohio"

- Content Tracks A and B include more than 20 videos that will help students from middle school to college understand the challenge they will face in the future and what it means to be an entrepreneur/innovator.

- Content Track C will help high school and college students learn about some of the many resources and opportunities available to them now and in the future as innovators and entrepreneurs in their region of Ohio.

- Content Track D includes more than 70 videos from some of Ohio’s leading STEM innovators, researchers and practitioners who are creating the products, services and jobs of the future. These videos may be used as classroom instructional materials or assigned to students to introduce them to the world of STEM and help them find what interests them.

- Content Track E includes an array of other information and mini-courses that teach students about such topics as patents and intellectual property, crowd funding, venture capital, and about how the American free enterprise system works and creates jobs and prosperity.

Accompanying all the instructional videos in Content Tracks A-E are short self-grading student assessment quizzes and related presentation materials that are available on three different online platforms as discussed further below.

- Content Track F includes a series of instructional videos that can help high school and middle school students understand what they need to do at Mileposts 1 - 8 of Believe in Ohio’s “Roadmap to Future Jobs and Prosperity”. These videos also serve as instructional materials for an University of Akron course titled “Introduction to Entrepreneurship” which is available to Ohio high school students as a “College Credit Plus” course.

To access online course materials for one of Ohio's six regions, click on one of the other regional logos shown below:

How to Access Online Course Materials for other Ohio regions:

How to Use the iLearn Platform:

The most significant feature of the iLearn Platform to view online courses is that individual student progress and quiz grades can be easily tracked by teachers. In order to take advantage of this free platform, teachers must register here, and will then be sent instructions for accessing their personalized classrooms.

To learn more about the iLearn platform, view these demonstration videos that provide an overview of the features of the platform, and show how the course can function in your classroom: